Books
Group avatar

Nobel Prize in Literature

For a complete list of Nobel Prize Literature Laureates, please click on "visit our website"


Dedicated to reading authors who have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Who are you reading now, and what do you think of these movers and shakers in the world of literature?

From www.nobel.org:
The medal of the Swedish...more »

« more discussions

  • zawan u

    The Plague - Albert Camus

    I thought I'd put this up since Albert Camus is a Nobel laureate.
    I am currently reading his book, The Plague.

    What are your interpretations of the book?

    zawan u started this discussion 9 months ago. ( reply )

12

replies
expand replies 
Sign in to participate in this discussion.
  • tapbirds

    tapbirds 

    Hello Zawan:
    I haven't read The Plague, but I have read Camus' The Stranger. The book was very dark, existential. I wouldn't be at all surprised if The Plague is similar.

    posted 9 months ago. ( reply )
  • James

    James 

    I picked it up and after reading fifty pages I put it down, just too boring for me.

    posted 8 months ago. ( reply )
  • Ylva a

    Ylva a 

    Oh....this will be on my wishlist! ..Lots of people recomended me,but I always was busy reading other things. As soon as I'll read it,I'll reply again :)

    posted 6 months ago. ( reply )
  • blacklabel

    blacklabel 

    A bit dark as I recall, can be found boring by some, well Camus is not very easy to read.

    posted 2 months ago. ( reply )
  • Annie M

    Annie M 

    I liked The Plague much better than The Stranger.

    posted 2 months ago. ( reply )
  • tapbirds

    tapbirds 

    Ok, guess I should read The Plague . . . since I appreciated The Stranger!

    posted 2 months ago. ( reply )
  • Kaz Hope

    Kaz Hope 

    The original post is 7 months ago, so you might have read The Plague by now. Camus is one of my favorite writers. The story is very dark and deals with how people respond to death and the absurdity of life. Camus is not an easy read though and many people can find him boring. However, if you can get through the book and look at what Camus is attempting to communicate you will have read one most famous of absurd fiction. Camus never considered himself an existentialist, though he is often labeled as one. If you like The Stranger, you'll like this one as well.

    posted 2 months ago. ( reply )
    show 1 reply
    • tapbirds

      tapbirds 

      Thanks for your recommendation KH!

      posted 1 month ago. ( reply )
  • Jackie_Brown

    Jackie_Brown 

    The Fall is my favorite novel by Camus. I remember The Plague was very difficult to read. I read it in French since it is my native language. It is a metaphor of France and French résistance during the nazi occupation.

    posted 1 month ago. ( reply )
  • Umair Vahidy

    Umair Vahidy 

    I read The Fall and The stranger. And I want to know Why The Fall has always been ignored. Stranger is a good novel but The Fall is a masterpiece. Why Camus always remember by only The Stranger?

    posted 1 month ago. ( reply )
    show 2 replies
    • tapbirds

      tapbirds 

      Hi Umair:
      Good question. For some reason The Stranger seems to be on more college reading lists? But that still begs the question, doesn't it? Thanks to you and Jackie for whetting my desire to read The Fall!

      posted 1 month ago. ( reply )
    • James

      James (edited)

      The Stranger gets deeper into the problem with existence and the outsider and there is more space for having your own opinion - I don't even think Camus knew what he had put in his own book - whereas The Fall is a running monologue which, although I enjoyed to some extent and was well worth the read after finishing it, was a bit more dull and less room for interpretation (I think that's what I remember of it.) I'd still recommend it (like I said the ending lingers on after reading it), and for Tapbirds here is a quote from the book to help whet your appetites ;p:

      "Have you noticed that Amsterdam's concentric canals resemble the circles of hell? The middle-class hell, of course, peopled with bad dreams. When one comes from the outside, as one gradually goes through those circles, life — and hence its crimes — becomes denser, darker. Here, we are in the last circle."

      posted 3 weeks ago. ( reply )
  • To reply to this discussion, please sign in or join now.

Return to top